


A Winter Tune

by CyanideCrystal



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Mumintroll | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Major Character Injury, Middle Aged AU, Older Characters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Recovery, Reunions, Wheelchairs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 13:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18874105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyanideCrystal/pseuds/CyanideCrystal
Summary: It's been years since anyone in Moominvalley heard Snufkin's Spring Tune. Will there still be a place for him when he returns to Moominvalley?





	A Winter Tune

Sniff was not a morning person. As a matter of fact he usually didn't even think about opening his eyes before midday at the very least. He took a special kind of pleasure in knowing that there was nothing that needed to be done in the morning that couldn't be done after he's well rested. That was also the mentality he followed when opening his own law firm. Sniff decided the hours should suit his habits and did not believe that, as Snork liked to say, "it lowered the amount of clients he got". It was apparent to him that Snork knew very little about business and Sniff swore to himself to never open his office before 12 o'clock.  
  
But this day was different. One of the first days of summer Sniff woke up very early. Not of his own planning, of course. It was simply very difficult to sleep when it seemed like half of the Moominvalley's bird population decided to gather around his window, making a terrible noise.  
  
Sniff got up and stuck his head out of the window.  
  
"Some people are trying to sleep here, you loud feathered vermin!" He cried, knowing that there was no way he was going to go back to sleep after this rude awakening.  
But the moment he looked outside, he was not only met by a group of birds, currently flying off in a panic, but also a person in a big green hat, sitting with his back to a nearby tree, playing a tune that has been torturing Sniff for the entire morning.  
  
"Do you mind?" He said, looking at the figure pointedly. "You and your... bird companions woke me up."  
  
Sniff has never heard of someone influencing bird behaviour with a malicious intent, but in his half awake state of mind he was ready to believe that is exactly what the stranger was doing.  
Suddenly the tune stopped. Sniff smiled, self assured and was about to tell the person off for loitering on his property when he heard a small voice coming from under the hat.  
"Sniff?"  
  
"Yes, that's me. I'm sorry if you thought we were open. You're welcome to come back in the afternoon."  
  
"H... Help," the figure looked up and for a moment Sniff thought his mind was playing tricks on him. He knew this face…  
  
"Snufkin?"  
  
Sniff felt very foolish for saying that. Snufkin was a very old friend he haven't heard from in years. What would he be doing sitting on the front porch of his house? Did he need legal advice? Sniff laughed a little at that thought. Dear old Snufkin always did manage to land himself in some sort of trouble back in the day.  
  
"Please, Sniff... I'm need help," said a person who might've been Snufkin.  
  
Sniff shook his head quickly, scolding himself mentally for taking so long to react to what the stranger was saying. It really didn't matter if he was or wasn’t Snufkin. He couldn't continue staring at a small beast in need of help, like it's some kind of tourist attraction. And anyway, he figured the person will eventually want to sue someone.  
  
"I'm coming," he said, finally, closing the window and rushing to the door.  
  
Sniff’s house was divided in two parts - one for him to live in, the other one for everything work related. That way he was never late for work and if he overslept his clients could just shout at him through the window. But that hardly ever happened.  
  
Sniff crossed the corridor, ignoring the door leading into the office and exited the building.  
  
"What happened, are you hurt?" Sniff asked when he was finally face to face with maybe-Snufkin.  
  
"My legs..." He said. It seemed like every word was causing him a great deal of pain. The poor creature tried to move, but he only ended up losing balance and knocking his hat off of his head.  
  
Sniff took a step back. This was no hallucination. Snufkin, who looked exactly as he did many years ago was staring at him with slightly unfocused eyes, while sitting on the ground, with a harmonica clutched in firmly his hand.  
  
Sniff's first instinct told him to run. Forget about Snufkin and the rude birds and come back to his own house. Perhaps go to sleep.  
  
He couldn't accept what was technically a stranger barging in and walking all over his peaceful and quiet routine with his muddy shoes. But he also knew it was already too late to think about this.   
The damage was done the moment he saw him and event ignoring Snufkin wouldn't help.  
  
"What happened to your legs?" He asked approaching his visitor slowly.  
  
"I... fell."  
  
"That's ok," he said, trying to calm himself down by using his "client" voice. "What did you fall from?"  
  
"The rocks... I was climbing... Wasn't planning on coming here, I just... Thought I wouldn't be able to make it to the next city... I can't walk very well. I mostly... crawled these last few meters."  
  
Sniff took Snufkin's arm trying to help him stand up. He nearly succeeded, but at one point Snufkin yelled in pain and fell back onto the ground.  
"Sorry!" Said sniff, trying to think of a different approach. He looked at his old friend thoughtfully.  
  
Snufkin's fall made his coat slid upwards, uncovering his legs. Sniff had to stifle a gasp. He has never seen anything like that before. Snufkin's legs appeared broken in more than a few places, stuck at odd angles and still bleeding.  
  
Sniff assessed the situation. He never really noticed how small Snufkin was when he was younger, but it was really lucky that that was the case.  
  
"Get ready," he said, more to himself then his friend.  
  
Sniff braced himself and after a moment of adjusting his position, picked Snufkin up in a bridal carry and started walking towards his house. The mumrik didn't say anything, only wrapping his arms around Sniff's neck for balance.  
  
After they crossed the threshold Sniff looked around for a place he could lie Snufkin down. He cursed himself for a second for not getting a couch in his waiting room. He didn't really feel comfortable letting Snufkin into the part of the house he lived in, but the only place fit for a person with this amount of injuries would be his bed. The bed he could be sleeping in...  
  
He opened the door to his bedroom with resignation and set Snufkin on the bed, trying to be as gentle as possible.  
  
"My... Hat," said Snufkin in a small voice.  
  
Of course that's what he's thinking about right now. Sniff decided not to argue with an injured man and hurried back out.  
  
But when he stepped out of the house he couldn't see a hat. He could've sworn it was there just a second ago. Could the wind sweep it up and carry it away? Well, that was not his concern for now. He could just buy Snufkin a new one later. It's not like he it was expensive. He smiled to himself thinking how generous and mature that would be. Sniff nodded to himself in a congratulatory manner. 

***

Moominhouse was always changing. The walls have been repainted in different colours at least ten times, the furniture was frequently rearranged, according to Snorkmaiden’s current mood and people were constantly moving into rooms, or leaving without notice.  
  
But one thing remained throughout the years. A small light was always visible from the window on the attic. That’s where Snork lived and worked. After he’s been expelled from the Engineer Guild for Brilliant Minds, he didn’t really see the point in going downstairs. Snork instead spent hours on making complicated blueprints and writing pages upon pages of instructions. He was sure one of these works will win him back some favour with the guild. Everyone was trying to support him in this struggle, but after five years most of them accepted it’s not going to happen.  
  
After his friends gave up on him, they started not only bringing food, but also stopping by to “spend some time together”. Snork was forced to endure listening to Moomin’s novels read out loud, Snorkmaiden forcing him out of the attic to go on a walk and, worst of all, Sniff insisting to play chess with him, while talking about business, while wearing that silly green bowtie and a bowler hat.  
  
That’s what Snork suspected Sniff had in store for him when he heard him screaming into his open window.  
  
“Snork! The door is closed! Can you come down here... quickly?”  
  
“It is?” Snork asked, lazily. “Well, yes. I guess that’s right. Moomin and my dear sister are out on vacation. I suspect Moomin is going to pop the question.”  
  
“The… question? Oh, dear.”  
  
Sniff didn’t know what “the question” was, but it filled him with anxiety. What he needed right now were answers, not even more questions!  
  
“Yeah, anyway, I’m busy so you can come some other day,” said Snork with the intention of closing the window.  
  
“No, wait! It’s Snufkin!”  
  
Snork paused.  
  
“It’s a what?”  
  
“Snufkin. Remember? Moomin’s special friend who visited every spring when he was a teeneager. That Snufkin!” Sniff was trying to say as much as he could before Snork lost interest and closed the window.  
  
But instead Snork opened it further and stuck his head out.  
  
“What is it then?”  
  
But he need not ask. He could see what it was very clearly. Sniff was carrying an unconscious man in his arms, standing on the other side of the river that run all the way around the Moominhouse.  
  
There used to be a small bridge over it, that one day broke down, got repaired by Moomin a year later and then broke down again after five years due to what Snork called “unsound structure”. He has offered to repair it again, but it didn’t seem like anyone was interested. From that moment on everyone just jumped across the small river. It was quite good exercise, but it wasn’t fair to expect Sniff to make it across with such a heavy weight in his arms.  
  
“He started getting feverish and I didn’t know what to do so I remembered you were a doctor and-”  
  
“How many times am I supposed to tell you! I’m not THAT type of doctor!” Snork yelled. He then sighed and put away the blueprint he was working on. He couldn't leave any small beast in the hands of that reckless creature. “Hold on!”

***

“You should’ve told me this is the state he’s in,” said Snork, after he and Sniff lied Snufkin gently on a bed in one of the empty rooms. “I would’ve come quicker.”  
  
Snork’s fur was slowly changing color from white to blue, which Sniff knew meant that his friend was getting upset.  
  
“I didn’t… I didn’t know what to say…” His ears hung low in shame. He really was trying his best. He just wasn’t very good at helping.  
  
“Well, it’s good you brought him here,” said Snork, in an obvious attempt at making Sniff feel better. “Even though I’m not a medical doctor I had some basic training. I will be able to keep him stable, while you fetch someone who can help him more.”  
  
“A-alright! Do you need anything else, Snork?” Sniff was really hoping he’d say “no”. He was already feeling nauseous, just thinking about all the procedures Snufkin will have to endure.  
  
“Yes, please. Bring me a pair of scissors and a first-aid kit from the bathroom,” said Snork, oblivious to Sniff’s discomfort.  
  
Sniff wasted no time leaving the room, only peaking back inside. Snork grabbed the items from him with a serious expression.  
  
“I will have to cut off his trousers to get to the injuries. I think they are stuck to the-”  
  
“Goodbye!” Said Sniff, running off, trying to empty his mind of terrible images that description put in his, very fragile, mind.  
  
Snork sighed. Guess it was just him and Snufkin now. Never thought he’d say that ever again.  
  
He got straight to work. Cutting fabric and throwing the pieces on the floor next to him. He sincerely hoped Snufkin had an extra pair of pants on him, because although nudity was never a problem for snorks, he had some doubts mumriks felt the same way. He started cleaning some of Snufkin’s wounds, when suddenly he heard his “patient” stir awake.  
  
“Hm… What…?”  
  
“It’s alright, Snufkin, you’re at the Moominhouse,” said Snork, trying very hard to sound reassuring.  
  
“Moomin…”  
  
“Yes, the Moominhouse. Remember?”  
  
“Moomin, it’s you…” Snufkin suddenly put his small hand in Snork’s fluffy paw. “I’m so sorry, Moomin… I promised…”  
  
“Shhh…” Snork squeezed Snufin’s hand. He decided playing along would help make Snufkin more comfortable. “It’s… I’m not mad, Snufkin. I’m going to help you.”  
  
Snufkin laughed, which nearly made Snork jump.  
  
“Help me… Good old Moomin… You shouldn’t be so selfless… I always said…”  
  
Snufkin trailed off and fell unconscious again. Snork was a little glad about this, since he was getting more than a little bit uncomfortable with this conversation. He tried not to think about it and focus on cleaning the wounds, feeling a little bit bad for letting Snufkin’s hand go.  
  
Snufkin let out a small yelp after he touched one of the more painfully looking wounds. Snork paused for a minute and looked at the mumrik’s feverish face.  
  
He felt his fur changing color into an even deeper blue, with a slight hint of purple as he raised his paw to brush away Snufkin’s fringe. His hair grew so much since the last time he saw him… He could probably put braids and flowers in them. Snork's sister would be so jealous...  
  
“... what will Moomin say…?” He said softly, knowing nobody could hear him.

**Author's Note:**

> Sniff is secretly Phoenix Wright (I imagine him in that meme "How can lawyers argue without crying?").
> 
> Snork's fur changes colour according to mood, I'm bringing it back.
> 
> LIttle My is away for now, because she doesn't live in Moominvalley anymore, but she will show up.
> 
> Next up: Snufkin wakes up and finds himself something to wear, with Sniff's fashion advice. Snork and Snufkin have a talk. Moomin is on his way back home.


End file.
